bims-plasge 2021-12-26 papers

Issue of 2021–12–26
two papers selected by
Vera S. Bogdanova, ИЦиГ СО РАН

Genes (Basel). 2021 Nov 26. pii: 1897. [Epub ahead of print]12(12):

Genome-Wide Association Mapping for Heat and Drought Adaptive Traits in Pea.

Endale G Tafesse, Krishna K Gali, V B Reddy Lachagari, Rosalind Bueckert, Thomas D Warkentin.

Heat and drought, individually or in combination, limit pea productivity. Fortunately, substantial genetic diversity exists in pea germplasm for traits related to abiotic stress resistance. Understanding the genetic basis of resistance could accelerate the development of stress-adaptive cultivars. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in pea on six stress-adaptive traits with the aim to detect the genetic regions controlling these traits. One hundred and thirty-five genetically diverse pea accessions were phenotyped in field studies across three or five environments under stress and control conditions. To determine marker trait associations (MTAs), a total of 16,877 valuable single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were used in association analysis. Association mapping detected 15 MTAs that were significantly (p ≤ 0.0005) associated with the six stress-adaptive traits averaged across all environments and consistent in multiple individual environments. The identified MTAs were four for lamina wax, three for petiole wax, three for stem thickness, two for the flowering duration, one for the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and two for the normalized pigment and chlorophyll index (NPCI). Sixteen candidate genes were identified within a 15 kb distance from either side of the markers. The detected MTAs and candidate genes have prospective use towards selecting stress-hardy pea cultivars in marker-assisted selection.

Keywords: drought; genome-wide association study; genotyping-by-sequencing; heat; marker–trait association; pea; stress

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/genes12121897

Front Genet. 2021 ;12 780793

S-RNase Alleles Associated With Self-Compatibility in the Tomato Clade: Structure, Origins, and Expression Plasticity.

Amanda K Broz, Christopher M Miller, You Soon Baek, Alejandro Tovar-Méndez, Pablo Geovanny Acosta-Quezada, Tanya Elizabet Riofrío-Cuenca, Douglas B Rusch, Patricia A Bedinger.

The self-incompatibility (SI) system in the Solanaceae is comprised of cytotoxic pistil S-RNases which are countered by S-locus F-box (SLF) resistance factors found in pollen. Under this barrier-resistance architecture, mating system transitions from SI to self-compatibility (SC) typically result from loss-of-function mutations in genes encoding pistil SI factors such as S-RNase. However, the nature of these mutations is often not well characterized. Here we use a combination of S-RNase sequence analysis, transcript profiling, protein expression and reproductive phenotyping to better understand different mechanisms that result in loss of S-RNase function. Our analysis focuses on 12 S-RNase alleles identified in SC species and populations across the tomato clade. In six cases, the reason for gene dysfunction due to mutations is evident. The six other alleles potentially encode functional S-RNase proteins but are typically transcriptionally silenced. We identified three S-RNase alleles which are transcriptionally silenced under some conditions but actively expressed in others. In one case, expression of the S-RNase is associated with SI. In another case, S-RNase expression does not lead to SI, but instead confers a reproductive barrier against pollen tubes from other tomato species. In the third case, expression of S-RNase does not affect self, interspecific or inter-population reproductive barriers. Our results indicate that S-RNase expression is more dynamic than previously thought, and that changes in expression can impact different reproductive barriers within or between natural populations.

Keywords: S-RNase; mating system transitions; reproductive barriers; self-compatibility (compatible); self-incompatibility (incompatible)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fgene.2021.780793